I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Zong Shijie's room outside Yangcheng Business School is also in Ningpingyuan, in the same residential area as Zheng Changhao.

Just as Zong Shijie received Shen Kang's call, an L8 was driving on the road, heading towards Ningpingyuan.

Inside the car, a driver was driving in the front.

In the last row, there was only one girl. She was not very old, and looked to be around 18 years old. She was not particularly pretty, at most just pretty, but her clothes were quite expensive, and she was wearing a Longines ladies' watch on her wrist.

The girl was looking down, engrossed in playing on her phone.

In the middle row, two middle-aged men sat on the seats. Both looked to be under fifty years old; the one on the left was rather tall and thin, while the one on the right was rather short and stout. Both were dressed quite smartly, clearly wealthy people.

The short, stout man on the right is making a phone call, but the notification tone coming from the other end indicates that the other party is already on another call.

After the call ended, the short, stout man waited a while and tried again, but the other party was still on the line.

"The call has been ongoing."

After finishing his sentence, the short, stout man added, "He's probably on the phone with his teacher. I heard him say that he's been quite busy at school lately, apparently with some kind of research project. I didn't understand what he said, but I guess he's on the phone with his teacher about it."

The short, stout man was Zong Shijie's father, Zong Kunyang. Both of those phone calls were made to Zong Shijie.

The tall, thin man next to Zong Kunyang is named Chen Kexu.

Hearing Zong Kunyang's words, Chen Kexu chuckled, "That Xiao Jie is quite diligent in school." But in his heart, he didn't believe it at all.

Chen Kexu and Zong Kunyang were old friends. They had both watched their children grow up. Therefore, he knew about Zong Kunyang's son.

That kid's busy with his research? Don't be ridiculous.

Zong Kunyang sat down, fiddled with his phone for a bit, and then suggested, "We can't get through to this kid on the phone right now. We don't even know where he is or if he's home. If he's not home, we've made a wasted trip. Why don't we find somewhere nearby to sit and talk to him when we can get through?"

Chen Kexu didn't care. "Okay, I'll do as you say."

Zong Kunyang then turned to the girl in the back row, a friendly smile on his face, "Ningning, would you like tea or coffee?"

"Let's have some coffee." The girl in the back row didn't even look up, continuing to play on her phone.

Zong Kunyang then turned his head away and told the driver to take him to a nearby coffee shop. He then chatted idly with Chen Kexu next to him, but his mind was elsewhere.

Zong Kunyang and Chen Kexu were from the same village and both did business outside the village. They had always had a good relationship. Since their children were about the same age, they were even betrothed as children.

The two men's enthusiasm for the marriage differed due to the different eras they lived in.

In the 90s, Zong Kunyang's business was larger than Chen Kexu's, and at that time, Chen Kexu's family was more eager to make the marriage happen.

After 2000, Chen Kexu's business grew rapidly, and the Yang family, including Zong Kun, became more eager to arrange the marriage.

Of course, it doesn't really matter which family is more eager for the marriage to happen, as both hope it will go through. That's all that matters.

But in the last two years, something seems to have gone wrong.

In the past two years, Zong Kunyang has clearly received care from Chen Kexu, who has helped him a lot in his business, making Zong Kunyang's business better and better.

Zong Shijie's Mondeo came about under these circumstances.

Zong Kunyang was initially quite happy, thinking that the marriage was a sure thing, and that his father-in-law, Chen Kexu, was already starting to help.

But gradually, Zong Kunyang began to feel that something was wrong.

Chen Kexu has indeed helped a lot in business these past two years, but he seems to be getting increasingly indifferent when it comes to helping the two families have children.

Zong Kunyang keenly sensed this, and then he had a bad feeling: Could it be that Old Chen has changed his mind and no longer wants to facilitate this marriage? The help he has given over the past two years has been Old Chen's way of laying the groundwork, so that when Old Chen really brings up the "cancellation of the marriage" later, it won't be too awkward for either side, and they can still remain friends.

Old Chen's business has grown so much that he's met people from a higher social class and wants to marry one of them.

Zong Kunyang felt increasingly uneasy, so he recently put even more effort into getting the two children to fall in love. That way, even if their father, Chen Kexu, had other ideas, he would have to consider his daughter's opinion, wouldn't he?

The same is true today.

Zong Kunyang found an opportunity and brought the Chen family father and daughter to find his son, hoping to let the two children get to know each other better.

While Zong Kunyang was deep in thought, Chen Kexu sat beside him, chatting casually while also pondering his own thoughts.

He knew very well what Zong Kunyang was thinking; he wanted to arrange a marriage between the two younger generations.

But just as Zong Kunyang thought, Chen Kexu was no longer optimistic about this marriage.

……

At the same time, in his residence in Ningping Garden, Zong Shijie had already heard Shen Kang finish telling him about appearing on television.

Zong Shijie felt that he had a rich imagination.

At the time, he only mentioned to Shen Kang that he would sell a Fit for one yuan, and he had already been imagining for a long time what would happen and how shocked everyone would be.

But to his surprise, things in the real world unfolded in a way that was far more complex than he had imagined.

"TV station? Interview? Me?"

Zong Shijie bombarded him with questions, sounding incredulous: "You mean, I'm going to be on TV?!"

Shen Kang's voice came from the other end of the phone: "Yes, you're going to be on TV."

"Holy crap!..."

Zong Shijie kept exclaiming "Holy crap!" and didn't care about his appearance anymore. He wandered around the room like a headless fly, very excited.

He only wanted to show off in front of his classmates, but he never expected that he would actually show off on TV and in front of the entire city of Yangcheng.

This used Honda Fit is such a great deal!

And Old Shen is awesome! He actually managed to get himself on TV news and steal the spotlight!

These methods, these connections, wow...

Shen Kang, who had already seen Deng Shicheng off, was now sitting in a private room with Qian Ming'en.

Once Zong Shijie had calmed down a bit, Shen Kang continued, "Also, there are a few things I need to discuss with you in advance, so please remember them..."

Shen Kang explained to Zong Shijie the "real purpose" and "environmental significance" of "selling the Fit for one dollar," and told him to follow that line of reasoning.

Zong Shijie, on the other hand, had gradually calmed down and was sitting on the table in the dressing room.

After listening quietly to what Shen Kang had to say, his expression became even more strange.

When Shen Kang asked him to repeat himself, Zong Shijie repeated, "I'm a college student from a well-off family. After learning that your program is very environmentally friendly, I enthusiastically supported it and donated this Honda Fit for one yuan. I just wanted to set an example and encourage more college students to participate in the secondhand market to promote environmental protection."

"Yes, that's it." Shen Kang's satisfied voice came from the other end.

Zong Shijie, on the other hand, still had a strange expression, feeling that this world was too fantastical.

Only you know the truth about your own affairs.

He was just an ordinary rich kid who didn't study hard and loved chasing girls, showing off, and having fun. How did he suddenly become an outstanding college student who was enthusiastic about public welfare and environmental protection?

Hey, where can I go to reason with this?

Zong Shijie also had a picture in his mind:

On television, he appeared dressed in a suit, looking quite respectable, and spoke eloquently in front of the reporter's microphone.

"I've always liked helping others and have been enthusiastic about public welfare since I was little. Whenever I see a beggar on the street, I always give them money. I remember one winter, I saw an old lady selling candied hawthorns on the street. The wind was blowing so hard, and the old lady was shivering. There were hardly any people on the street. I bought all of the old lady's candied hawthorns so that she could go home sooner."

"The same thing is happening now, with the Honda Fit being sold for one dollar."

"Actually, I'm a low-key person, but this time, in order to set an example and encourage students to participate in secondhand trading to reduce resource waste and promote environmental protection, I had no choice but to step forward..."

Wei Minglun, Meng Chengjiao, and the others sat in front of the television, watching themselves on screen as gentlemen, filled with envy, and shouted, "Shijie is awesome!"

One by one, the boys sat in front of the TV, watching themselves talking confidently on screen, filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment, muttering, "Damn, you've already shown off all that, how are we supposed to survive?"

Girls sat in front of the TV, watching themselves shine on screen, their eyes filled with hearts, exclaiming, "So handsome! I want to have your babies!"

Even his father, who had always looked down on him, finally realized just how outstanding his son was after seeing him on television. He exclaimed in shock, "Son, I've been so wrong! You're amazing!"

"Hehehehehe..."

As Zong Shijie pondered this, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

Shen Kang, listening on the other end of the phone, felt completely bewildered and repeatedly shouted, "Feed? Feed?!...!"

After a few shouts, Zong Shijie finally snapped out of his daydream, quickly wiped the drool from his mouth, and patted his chest to assure him, "Don't worry, Lao Shen, leave it to me. This... no, I mean, this interview, I'll definitely do it exactly as you say!"

Then, after a moment's hesitation, he asked, "Old Shen, we've reached an agreement here, but what if the TV station interviews other people and digs out some dirt on me? I'm not usually that enthusiastic about charity work; they'll find out easily if they ask around. Won't they expose me?"

Then Shen Kang's voice came from the other end: "Don't worry, I've already made arrangements with the TV station."

Upon hearing this, Zong Shijie was filled with respect.

Brother Shen is truly amazing. He not only got himself on TV, but also created a glorious and righteous image for himself, and even managed to arrange things for the TV station!

"Then I have no further questions. Don't worry, Brother Shen, I'll definitely do my best!"

He even changed how he addressed Shen Kang, jumping from "Old Shen" to "Brother Shen," regardless of the fact that he was actually older than Shen Kang.

Upon hearing Zong Shijie's assurance, Shen Kang on the other end said, "Okay. I'll have someone write a detailed outline for you later; just memorize it."

Upon hearing that there was also copywriting involved, Zong Shijie felt even more at ease.

Shen Kang added, "Oh, right, there's also the female guest you were matched with. We'll contact her. After you give her the car, she'll sell it, and she'll donate the money to students in mountainous areas to help them go to school. I wanted to tell you this so we could discuss it, otherwise you might not even know."

That was someone else's way of showing off, which Zong Shijie didn't care much about. However, he was concerned about something else: "Would she be willing to donate?"

Shen Kang said, "Most likely she won't. I also have her information. Her family is working class, and 20,000 yuan is not a small amount for her. It's not right to force her to donate it, so what I'm thinking is to buy her car for 20,000 yuan and let her donate the 20,000 yuan. In addition, I will give her another 20,000 yuan privately."

Zong Shijie understood Shen Kang's meaning: "Then you sell that car for about 20,000 yuan. Essentially, you're donating 20,000 yuan in her name?"

"Yes, that's it."

Zong Shijie wasn't surprised at all by Shen Kang's generosity, given Shen's status. Even he himself was willing to throw out 20,000 yuan just to show off, so it was perfectly normal for Shen to donate 20,000 yuan casually.

However, this task cannot be left to Lao Shen alone.

"Brother Shen, you're not treating me like a brother anymore."

Zong Shijie feigned anger, "This female guest is at least a match for me. Maybe we'll even start a relationship after tonight, and she'll become my future girlfriend. My future girlfriend is getting fame, and you're paying for it? What kind of talk is that? No way, I'll pay for it!"

"You've already taken a Honda Fit, why would we ask you to pay more?"

"Look at what you're saying! I've never been on TV before, and now you've practically thrown a TV station in my face. What's wrong with me paying a little money? Don't argue with me, I'm definitely paying!..."

After some back and forth, the two finally agreed to split the 20,000 yuan in half.

Shen Kang no longer needed to look for that female guest; they could go to Zhongtanghui tonight and go over everything with the other three of them on the spot.

After everything was settled, Zong Shijie hung up the phone. But as soon as he hung up, he saw several missed calls on his phone and called his father back.

"Hey... I'm at Ningping Garden right now... Okay, I'll wait for you."

Zong Shijie didn't know why his father had suddenly come over.

Shortly after he hung up the phone, there was a knock on the door.

In the past, when I opened the door, my father would be outside, and behind him stood two familiar faces: Uncle Chen Kexu and his daughter Chen Wanning.